TODAY: Call your sheriff to stop Trump’s anti-immigration policies

Originally posted on Action Utah. To see the original post, click here.

Last week, the Trump Administration gutted restrictions preventing the deportation of law-abiding undocumented immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security memos call for the removal of nearly all undocumented immigrants, a tripling of the number ICE agents, and the stripping of due process and privacy protections. ICE agents have now begun conducting raids on church shelters and courthouses all over the country.

How can we help?

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) notes that “local law enforcement has no legal obligation to assist with civil immigration enforcement, which is the responsibility of the federal government.” They explain that sheriffs are key to fighting deportation as they are the ones with boots on the ground in each county and the authority to determine whether they will or will not assist with deportation. Furthermore, turning local law enforcement into immigration officers does more harm than good and undermines the community’s trust of police officers and sheriffs.

Sheriffs (with few exceptions) are elected officials, so we can contact them the same way we contact our Members of Congress.